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4.0 Comments and Coordination 

4.1 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND OUTREACH 

The Section 4.1 of the Draft EIS included a summary of scoping meetings and 

distribution of the Draft EIS. This section summarizes additional public and agency 

involvement and outreach since publication of the Draft EIS. 

4.1.1 SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT EIS NOTICING AND PUBLIC HEARINGS

FRA initiated the public review and comment period of the Supplemental Draft EIS by 

publishing a Notice of Availability (NOA) of a Supplemental Draft EIS in the Federal 

Register on September 3, 2010. 

FRA mailed notice of the Supplemental Draft EIS availability to approximately 2,500 

individuals on the project mailing list (including property owners within 500 feet of the 

proposed rail alignments). This list was updated in June 2010 to help ensure greater 

accuracy. The notice included information on how to obtain a copy of the Supplemental 

Draft EIS, the deadline for comments to be submitted, a brief description of the project 

modifications and additions since publication of the Draft EIS, and the date, location and 

time of two public hearings to be held in the project area as follows: 

Las Vegas: Wednesday, October 13, 2010, 5:30 – 8:00 p. m. 

Hampton Inn Tropicana 

SW Event Center B 

4975 Dean Martin Drive 

Las Vegas, NV 89118 

Victorville/Barstow Area: Thursday, October 14, 2010, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. 

Lenwood Hampton Inn 

Jackrabbit Room 1 

2710 Lenwood Road 

Barstow, CA 92311 

Notice was also published in the Victorville Daily Press, the Barstow Desert Dispatch, 

the Las Vegas Sun, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. These notices described the 

project, indicated where and how to obtain copies of the Supplemental Draft EIS, 

informed the public of the deadline to submit comments, and provided the dates and 

locations of the public hearings. 
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Document Availability

FRA placed copies of the Supplemental Draft EIS and appendices at following libraries: 

 Victorville City Library: 15011 Circle Drive, Victorville, CA 92395 

 Barstow Library: 304 East Buena Vista, Barstow, CA 92311 

 Las Vegas Library: 833 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Las Vegas, NV 89101 

 Clark County Library: 1401 E. Flamingo, Las Vegas, NV, 89119 

FRA also made electronic versions of the Supplemental Draft EIS and appendices 

accessible through FRA’s website: www.fra.dot.gov. 

4.1.2 DRAFT EIS NOTICING AND PUBLIC HEARINGS

Draft EIS Formal Scoping Meeting Notification 

The scoping process for the Draft EIS began with the publication of the Notice of Intent 

(NOI) in the Federal Register. The NOI was printed in the Federal Register on July 14, 

2006. 

Three public scoping meetings were held as part of the public scoping process for the 

Draft EIS: 

 Las Vegas: July 25, 2006, 5:00pm – 8:00pm. The White House, 3260 Joe 

Brown Drive 

 Barstow: July 26, 2006, 12:00pm – 2:00pm. Ramada Inn, 1571 East Main 

Street 

 Victorville: July 26, 2006, 5:00pm – 8:00pm. San Bernardino County Fair 

Grounds, 14800 Seventh Street, Building 3 

These meetings provided an opportunity for the public and agencies to comment on the 

scope of environmental topics to be analyzed in the EIS. 

Notices regarding the public scoping meetings were published in local newspapers. 

Notices describing the proposed project and listing the dates and locations of the scoping 

meetings were printed in the Victorville Daily Press and the Las Vegas Sun/Las Vegas

Review Journal (July 14 and July 23, 2006) and in the Barstow Desert Dispatch (July 14 

and July 23, 2006). FRA sent notification mailers to approximately 2,500 individuals on 

the project mailing list (including property owners within 500 feet of the proposed rail 

alignments). The notice provided information on the scoping meetings and briefly 

described the proposed elements of the project. The notice also included details on how 

and where to submit formal comments on the project. A telephone hotline was also 

established to provide a contact for the scoping meetings. 

Public scoping meeting attendees were asked to submit their completed comment sheets 

at the meeting attended, or to mail the sheets (by August 15, 2006) to 455 Capitol Mall, 

Suite 305, Sacramento, California. Approximately 24 comment letters were received 

from meeting attendees. In addition to the comment sheets, 12 letters were received by 

the FRA at 1120 Vermont Avenue, Washington, DC 20590. No comments were received 
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via the project hotline; however, one meeting participant called the hotline to request 

additional project information. 

The Draft EIS included Appendix P, summarizing all comments received during the 

scoping process. The Final EIS for the DesertXpress project will compile and respond to 

all comments received on the Draft EIS and this Supplemental Draft EIS. 

Circulation and Notification of the Draft EIS 

FRA initiated the public review and comment period of the Draft EIS by publishing a 

Notice of Availability (NOA) of a Draft EIS in the Federal Register on March 27, 2009. 

FRA mailed notice of the Draft EIS availability to approximately 2,500 indivisuals on the 

project mailing list (including property owners within 500 feet of the proposed rail 

alignments). Notice was also published in the Victorville Daily Press, the Barstow 

Desert Dispatch, the Las Vegas Sun, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The notice 

included information on how to obtain a copy of the Draft EIS, the deadline for 

comments to be submitted, a brief description of the Action Alternatives and proposed 

elements of the project, and the date, location and time of three public hearings to be 

held in the project area. Three public hearings were held on the Draft EIS, as follows: 

 Las Vegas: April 28, 2009, 5:30pm – 8:00pm. Hampton Inn Tropicana, 4975 

Dean Martin Drive 

 Barstow: April 29, 2009, 5:30pm – 8:00pm. Ramada Inn, 1511 East Main 

Street 

 Victorville: April 30, 2009, 5:30pm – 8:00pm. Green Tree Golf Course, 14144 

Green Tree Boulevard 

FRA placed copies of the Draft EIS and appendices at the following libraries: 

 Victorville City Library, 15011 Circle Drive, Victorville, CA 92395 

 Barstow Library, 304 East Buena Vista, Barstow, CA 92311 

 Las Vegas Library, 833 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Las Vegas, NV 89101 

 Clark County Library: 1401 East Flamingo, Las Vegas, NV, 89119 

FRA also made electronic versions of the Draft EIS and appendices accessible through 

FRA’s website: www.fra.dot.gov

4.2 AGENCY INVOLVEMENT 

Since the publication of the Draft EIS, FRA has continued its consultation efforts with 

the Cooperating Federal Agencies (Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Surface 

Transportation Board (STB), Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), National Park 

Service (NPS)) as well as state agencies, resource agencies, and other governmental 

agencies. 
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4.2.1 INTERAGENCY MEETINGS PRIOR TO PUBLICATION OF THE 

SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT EIS 

Section 4.2.1 of the Draft EIS summarized interagency meetings FRA and its thirdparty contractor held during preparation of the Draft EIS to seek input and obtain 

information from other governmental agencies with unique expertise or knowledge of 

the project area. This list shows meetings convened following publication of the Draft 

EIS in March 2009. 

 March 3, 2009, Interagency conference call to discuss the Section 106 process. 

Agencies: FRA, BLM, FHWA, Caltrans, NDOT, the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation, the California State Historic Preservation Officer, and the Nevada 

State Historic Preservation Officer. 

 April 28, 2009, Informational meeting with Native American Tribes regarding 

the Draft EIS. 

Agencies: FRA, STB, BLM 

Tribes: Chemehuevi Tribe 

 April 30, 2009, Informational meeting with Native American Tribes regarding 

Draft EIS and Section 106 Process. 

Agencies: FRA, STB, BLM 

Tribes: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Soboba Band of Luiseño 

Indians. 

 October 23, 2009, Teleconference regarding Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. 

Agencies: FRA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

 November 13, 2009, Meeting regarding Section 404. Agencies: FRA, U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers 

 November 19, 2009, Teleconference with Native American Tribes regarding 

Section 106 Process. 

Agencies: FRA, STB, BLM, FHWA, Caltrans, the California State Historic 

Preservation Officer 

Tribes: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. 

 January 6, 2010: Informational Meeting and Field Trip with Native American 

Tribes regarding prehistoric sites. 

Agencies: FRA, BLM 

Tribes: Timbisha Shoshone, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, 

Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission 

Indians, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe 
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 January 7, 2010: Government-to-Government Consultation Meeting at BLM 

Barstow Field Office 

Agencies: FRA, BLM 

 Tribe: Timbisha Shoshone 

 January 8, 2010, Government-to-Government Consultation Meeting, Highland, 

California 

Agencies: FRA, BLM 

Tribe: Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

 January 8, 2010, Government-to-Government Consultation Meeting, San Manuel 

Band of Mission Indians Reservation 

Agencies: FRA, BLM, Caltrans 

Tribe: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians 

 February 8, 2010, Interagency teleconference to discuss the Section 7 

consultation with FRA and USFWS. 

 February 24, 2010, Interagency teleconference to discuss Section 404 

compliance. Agencies: FRA and USACE (Los Angeles District) 

 March 3 2010, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA, FAA, Clark County 

Department of Aviation. 

 April 6, 2010, Informational Meeting with Native American Tribes to discuss 

archaeological site data, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Reservation 

Agencies: FRA (represented by project archeologist consultants), BLM 

Tribes: San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Soboba Band of 

 Luiseño Indians, Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians 

 April 19 2010, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA and EPA. 

4.2.2 COOPERATING AGENCY AND EIS WORKING GROUP CONSULTATION 

DURING PREPARATION OF THE DRAFT EIS 

FRA held regular meetings with the Cooperating Agencies and EIS Working Group 

throughout preparation of the Draft EIS. This list of meetings has been updated to 

include additional meetings convened following publication of the Draft EIS: 

 November 12, 2009, Interagency meeting, Washington, D.C. Agencies: FRA and 

STB. 

 November 17,2009, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA, STB, and BLM. 

 November 18,2009, EIS Working Group teleconference. Agencies: FRA, STB, 

BLM, NPS, FHWA, NDOT, and Caltrans. 

 November 25, 2009, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA and NPS. 

 December 8, 2009, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA and FHWA. 

 December 9, 2009, EIS Working Group teleconference. Agencies: FRA, STB, 

BLM, NPS, FHWA, NDOT, and Caltrans. 
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 December 10, 2009, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA and STB. 

 January 20, 2010, Interagency meeting, Washington, D.C. Agencies: FRA and 

NDOT. 

 February 18,2010, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA, BLM, FHWA, 

and NDOT. 

 March 5, 2010, Interagency meeting, Washington, D.C. Agencies: FRA and 

FHWA. 

 April 15, 2010, Interagency meeting, Washington, D.C. Agencies: FRA and 

FHWA. 

 July 1, 2010, Interagency teleconference. Agencies: FRA and FHWA. 

 July 21, 2010, Interagency meeting, Washington, D.C. Agencies: FRA and 

NDOT. 

 August 25, 2010, Interagency meeting, Washington, D.C. Agencies: FRA and 

FHWA.